Brendan Connolly fires 64 on day one of Colorado Stroke Play
Brendan Connolly
AURORA, Colo. — Brendan Connolly of The Ridge
at Castle Pines North, a former Gonzaga
University golfer, started very quickly Thursday
at the 79th CGA Stroke Play Championship, firing
a 7-under-par 64 for a two-shot lead after the
first round at CommonGround Golf Course.
Connolly (left), the 2008 CGA Junior Player of
the Year, eagled the 539-yard par-5 11th hole
and added five birdies in a bogey-free day on
Thursday.
In a round where 22 players broke par at the
course that's owned and operated by the CGA
and CWGA, Behrod Keshtavar of Colorado
National Golf Club holds second place at 66.
Keshtavar made an eagle, five birdies and two
bogeys on Thursday.
Five players are bunched in third place at 67,
including 2015 CGA Match Play champion Nick
Nosewicz of Meadow Hills Golf Course, Match
Play runner-up Connor Klein of Lone Tree Golf
Club, Jon Lindstrom of Lakewood Country Club,
University of Colorado golfer Ethan Freeman
from Glenwoor Country Club, and Loyola
Marymount golfer Braden Baer of Legacy Ridge
Golf Course.
Nosewicz and Jimmy Makloski of Pueblo Country
Club, who fired a 68 on Thursday, shared second
place at the 2014 CGA Stroke Play. Last year's
champion, David Oraee of Greeley Country Club,
isn't defending his title as he'll be playing
practice rounds this weekend for the U.S.
Amateur in Olympia Fields, Ill.
Nosewicz's win at the Match Play also came at
CommonGround. Though CGA records aren't
complete, what is in the association archives
indicates this is the first year that the CGA's
major amateur championships -- the Match Play
and Stroke Play -- were both contested on the
same course.
The field will be cut to the low 40 players and
ties after Friday's second round.View results for Colorado Amateur Championship